Psyker Landshark

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Renar Hagen

One challenge complete. Two to go. Renar took the introduction of the second round in stride, already analyzing the ascent up. He took Sir Rolan, Gerard, and Fanilly's words into account, pacing around the hill as he examined every approach up. After he finished, he returned to the others, wrapping his poleaxe up and slinging it over his back.

"Reporting. We have three viable routes up: the ascent we're currently facing, a steep cliff face to our left, and the back climb. Each of these has either cover or angles that anyone up top isn't able to see." He paused as he glanced up, ears picking up the buzzing.

"This all said, the mage up above will know what we're up to the moment we begin dividing into groups. Suffice to say that the group making the first climb up where we are here ought to be small, so as to take better advantage of the boulders and foilage on the path upward. The rear approach ought to be where our most serious effort is placed, given how poor of a sight line the peak has to it."

Renar paused, inclining his head towards Fanilly.

"We await your orders, Captain."

@VitaVitaAR

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

Iraleth snapped. Ciara's last, stupidest possible course of action was just too much for her to tolerate. Her sword came flying back out of its sheathe, and with a wave of her other hand, the blade began to shine with radiant light as Iraleth plunged headlong into the sphere of darkness, illuminating the area and trying to balance out the shadows.

The half-elf interspersed herself between Ciara and the shadowy imp, her sword of light stopping to point at the witch's throat.

"I have given you every. Possible. Chance. To simply be more than what I feared you were. You want me to treat you like an Umbralist so badly? Fine. We can have our duel right here and right now if you persist. But I warn you now: I would have spared you and left your fate to the faculty should I have won officially. Here? If you lose, I will put you down. This is your last opportunity to abandon this madness and walk away."

Her tone turned almost pleading, if it weren't for the undertone of fury still lacing every word.

"Stop making me have to try to kill you. I never wanted this to end in violence, you absolute idiot."

@Sifr @Estylwen

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

Salvator Rasch

Salvator's frown didn't fade. He should've figured it'd be something like this, but that didn't make the bait-and-switch any less galling. To say nothing of the fact that while he understood the objectives and outcomes of the op, he didn't agree. Peace talks? He wanted the occupiers and colonizers gone.

Of course, what Salvator wanted was far different from what he understood was realistically achievable. Which was just about the only reason he didn't protest further. This sort of outcome was the best the Intrasigence could hope for on an average day. So he just gave the command unit a curt nod, showing his understanding of the matter. Moving on.

King, eh? Hardlight construct was interesting, and-

Did the commander unit just make a fucking joke? Wonders never ceased, apparently.

Getting back on topic, the hardened insurgent inclined his head towards King.

"Salvator Rasch. Good to have you on. Evidently I'm in command, since no one protested otherwise."

Rise of Rasalhague

Jaromir Zhu

Hamazasp's machine gun shots turned the jump troopers on Jaromir's Trenchbucket into bloody paste, and the ex-Capellan let out a sigh of relief. Alright, he wasn't giving that guy any shit again. That, and he really should look into trying to replace the SRM-2 on this thing with a pair of small lasers or something. Wasn't as if he was using the former much, if at all.

"Appreciate the save, Sulser. Drinks are on me when we get back."

Jaromir busied himself with raising his Trebuchet's arm to wipe the blood off the cockpit view as Alvin went on his little spiel, and he resisted the urge to sigh.

"Why don't we talk about this after we're out of the field? Not done until we're back in the DropShip." Was the most polite way he could put it. Taking out a bunch of pirates in shitbox Mechs wasn't any indicator of future success. Considering most merc companies didn't last past the half year mark, one or two engagements meant nothing. Hell, one could argue that a few successful missions starting off caused a lot of mercs to get cocky and bite off more than they could chew with the next job, thinking they were the next Highlanders or Dragoons.

"Returning to position. Awaiting further orders, Boss."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Ranbu no Izayoi

Between Rudolf and Eve, the remaining squadron of Valheimr were quickly mopped up, though not without the mishap of the alarm sounding. Inevitable, considering what they were up to. Izayoi ignored it, simply flicking blood off of her blade and sheathing it as she nodded to Esben.

"Understood. Forward, then. We've no time to waste."

All the while, Ciradyl's agents saluted Esben and stacked up to defend the entrance, though not without one slipping a map to Izayoi.

"For you and Lord Hien's escape, General. Your exfiltration route is marked. We will distract any reinforcements as long as we are able before we retreat. Godsspeed."

The Mystrel bit back her instinctual retort and simply nodded, checking the map briefly before handing it off to the others. They sprinted into the prison's secure zone with the aid of directions. Fortunately enough, it seemed any sentient security within the deepest bowels of the makeshift fortress was absent, with only the squadron at the entrance having been the apparent interior guard. A stroke of fortune. As a result, it wasn't long before they found the cell they'd been looking for. Its occupant was a young Osprean man with a beard and a high ponytail, tall and broad of shoulder. Though he was in a terrible state. Covered in bruises, one eye blackened, and his once proud garb stained in blood. Izayoi recognized him immediately, even through the sands of time and his wounds.

"It is him. Stand back." Her hand fell to her sheathed sword, and she sucked in a breath as she focused. Visualize the line. Draw. Cut. Izayoi's strike cleaved through the cell's lock, the door swinging open as Hien looked up blearily.

"Is that...it can't be." He chuckled hoarsely as he remained sitting against the far wall, unable to stand, much less move under his open power. "Tell me, am I dreaming?"

"Unfortunately not, young master." Izayoi quickly knelt and bowed her head in deference as protocol dictated before rising, wrapping one of his arms over her shoulder and helping him up, slipping her sheathed wakizashi into his other hand. "I see you've grown sloppy in the absence of my instruction."

"Ahahaha...ugh. Blast, it hurts to laugh." Hien wheezed as he was helped up, Izayoi leading him along every step of the way. "Never mind, of course it's you. I'm a man grown now, you know. No need for the 'young master' talk. Especially in front of your friends." He shot Rudolf, Esben, and Eve a brief, pained grin. "Speaking of friends, how are my men? How many survivors?"

"We can discuss this when you arrive at safe harbor." Izayoi shot his request down, looking to the other three Kirins with her. "You three must clear the path. I will keep him safe."

The route Ciradyl's people gave the infiltration team led them from the cells towards something marked on the map as a "shower block". Whatever that was. Upon arrival to the entrance of what looked to be some sort of bathing area, though without tubs, an explosion could be heard from the other end.

"Breach and clear! Forward! We'll pin the intruders from the other end-" The commander in front halted his charge as he emerged, a dozen men in tow, staring gobsmacked at the aforementioned intruders.

"CONTACT!"

Half the Valheimr drew swords and charged, with the other half clambering up to higher ground in the shower block and taking aim at the Kirins.

___

Out in the streets, more soldiers poured out of the prison, a quarter of them still with guns trained upon the makeshift fortress's entrances while the others rushed to engage the interlopers.

"The mage! Kill that witch!" A particularly bright sergeant screamed, bullets whizzing from lower ground to try to hit Miina as she continued to throw spells.

"Orders from Captain Reisa!" A soldier in common enlisted armor shouted, the large contraption upon his back evidently some sort of communications equipment. "She's arriving with reinforcements upon that airship soon! Einhanders deployed! We at least need to keep them tied up until the airship is in drop range! And keep guns on the entrances still! The rebel leader can't be allowed to escape!"

The initial soldiers on the rooftops were quickly being cleared out, but the influx of reinforcements arriving from the prison were proving to be a problem, footmen bracing with shields to cover riflemen who took potshots at those up top. All the while, screeches were heard from the air as several winged shapes came flying from the approaching airship at high speed. As they drew closer, the shape of great horned birds, guns somehow fused to their bodies, could be made out.

The Einhanders began to fire as they dove in, their gunshots creating a pincer attack on the extraction team as the Valheimr in the streets continued to shoot as well, creating a killbox that would prove to have lethal consequences should it not be disrupted quickly.

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

The beast...surrendered? The Inheritor's armor paused in surprise, but didn't lower its weapons, holding steady in a ready stance as Iraleth narrowed her eyes. What game was this?

Its words drew greater cause for concern. Solidarity with the shadow witch, and dubbing Astra a false god? Iraleth tightened her grip. It dared to invoke rights? Umbralists lost their rights.

She stepped forward, having no intention on honoring the imp's pleas. Best to deal with this now. Or at least she would have, if Ciara didn't step in to intervene.

Ciara challenged her, and Iraleth legitimately debated the merits of ending this here and now. Forget the duel. Forget what they'd already arranged. Would it not be better in everyone else's interest if she just ended this farce before it had a chance to grow fangs? It would be so easy. Fly. Close the distance. Bring the blade down. Ciara was proving more untrustworthy by the second.

But that wasn't who she was. Iraleth had sworn an oath. And she would honor it. Her Ethos released, and the Inheritor faded away to reveal a furious half-elf glaring daggers at both Ciara and the imp.

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" She spat, her sword still clutched in one hand. "Damn yourself further, for all I care." Iraleth turned away, uncaring if her back was exposed. If Ciara attacked her now, that would end her case definitively. And if she was that far gone, why shed tears for the girl's fate?

In the meantime, Iraleth moved next to Hildegunde, starting to inspect her.

"Are you injured? You did well to survive before we arrived."

@Sifr @Estylwen

SPIRITUM

Kalina Kovalic

"You're not even in uniform." Kalina shot back to Silje, her retort just as clueless as the mage's question. "Don't think wearing civvies is going to impress royalty."

Everyone piled into the truck, and Kalina gunned the pedal even as Gerard shouted at her to. First shot was fifty meters off against a stationary target. Even accounting for splash from the explosion, that was sloppy of the enemy's gunnery officers. She checked the rear view mirror as she urged the vehicle forward, briefly nothing the princess before focusing on what was important: the dreadnought airdropping more robots even as it fired.

"Hold onto something back there. And keep that prisoner secure." Her tone didn't waver even as she spun the wheel, whirling the truck around into a drift as she sought to throw the airship's aim off. The gambit paid off, as the next shot landed a good distance away, though she'd lost a chunk of speed doing so. Right. So that was about how much reload time they had between shots. Useful to know.

Kalina barely batted an eyebrow as Valerie dragged Silje out of the passenger seat, replacing her with herself and starting to juice the truck with her magic. Worked for her. No need to bother with tricks for the next few moves. She aimed for full speed in a straight shot forward, banking on the sudden change in acceleration taking Vangar's targeting off-balance. As they started to clear the crash site onto open road, Kalina made the executive decision to drift the truck around to head north.

"Making for the forest. We won't accomplish anything by dragging the town into the line of fire. Didn't spot any AA installations back there."

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

Salvator Rasch

Finally, this shitfest of a mission was complete. All in a day's work with the Intransigence, really. He didn't relax until his feet hit the ship's deck, though relax was a rather strong term in this instance. More along the lines of he wasn't prepared for imminent death at any second now. Salvator just dutifully followed along as the commander unit escorted them, more than familiar with this outfit's debriefing procedures at this point. Once they were within the meeting room, he held his questions as Kleo decided to speak up first.

...Alright, speak was a bit of an understatement. Should've figured that the kid was a human supremacist, considering how she'd acted on-planet. Not the rarest thing in the galaxy. Every species had this sort, and it didn't make any one species more or less racist than the rest. The kidnapping claim was more interesting.

Salvator gave the odd human in the civvie outfit a curt nod before stepping forward, placing his palms down on the table as he stared the commander unit down.

"Go easy on her, kid's lost a lot of blood. Though I have to ask if her kidnapping claims are true. Are they? Because at the end of the day, we both know that unwilling soldiers aren't efficient." He didn't even bother trying to make a moral argument at this point. It'd just be brushed off anyway.

"And speaking of whys..." Salvator reached up to pull his hood down and remove his helmet, revealing a bald, blue-skinned voidhanger with a rather well-kept beard. He narrowed his eyes. "Last I checked, we were supposed to be on-planet to help the local population. So why were we ordered to do the exact opposite? Explain how this benefits the cause."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Renar Hagen

Renar gave a savage grin from beneath his helmet as he brought a Talderian knight low, skewering them on the spike of his poleaxe. That grin quickly turned into an irritated frown when the stubborn fighter kept themselves impaled, which morphed into hurried realization as the Bastard of Brias came to realize exactly what was going on:

Suicide tactics. The knights that fell were giving openings for their compatriots to finish the job. And in fact...

He saw the angle of attack in his mind's eye. Exactly where someone seeking to take advantage of his sudden slowdown would strike. In their position, he'd do the exact same. But that just meant Renar knew what was coming. He released his poleaxe and drew his arming sword just in time to parry a thrust from the Talderian's shield companion, stepping closer into their space before quickly slipping a dagger into his off-hand to drive into said assailant's throat. A quicker death. No chance for last second interference from this one.

All the while, Renar plotted their next course of action. If they kept to their current course, victory was certainly a possibility. But the Talderians changed tactics for a reason. Any casualty inflicted on the Roses was worth magnitudes more than each of the Prince's men they kept killing. In terms of grinding attrition tactics, their suddenly suicidal foe had the edge. The next move would have to be decisive.

"Regroup and form up!" Renar cried out to the rest of their little quartet, shoulder-checking another Talderian away before sheathing his blades and yanking his poleaxe out of the initial knight's fresh corpse. "Pivot around and charge, as one! We only need to pierce through the line to achieve our objective!"

He led the way, bracing his poleaxe spike-first in front of him as he led the four Roses in wheeling around to the far edge of Talderian line before charging straight through. One less flank where the enemy could cover each other, and with less numbers.

@The Otter @HereComesTheSnow @Crimson Paladin

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Ranbu no Izayoi

Given that the prison plan seemed to be more popular and in lieu of any better tactics, it was decided to run with Esben's plan. Ciradyl worked her magic in passing along a message to her resistance forces in whatever method she had - Izayoi would still need to ask her about all of that should they ever have the chance. For now, she went along with the plan.

By evening, all was ready. They used a less secure location for the capture, the first team pretending to be sedated under the influence of drugged tea that Chisaki purported to have slipped them. Transport to the prison was quick, the Valheimr that "captured" them eagerly taking them in for processing, giddy at the thought of a reward for bringing in two of the most wanted subjects on their all-points bulletin.

Fortunately, it seemed that the soldiers on shift in processing tonight were indeed Ciradyl's people, as they flashed a quick hand sign to signify that they were allies as they seized the party's blades from the capture team. As Izayoi, Eve, Esben, and Rudolf were taken deeper into the facility, small blades were slipped into their hands to cut their bindings. They passed through the cells for the "normal" prisoners, all of whom stared bleakly at the new arrivals. A few seemed to recognize Izayoi, and almost managed to say something, but a glare from their minders caused them all to slink back, heads bowed and spirits broken.

However, a squadron awaited them at the precipice of the entrance to the solitary confinement zone. The sergeant approached, pistol drawn as he nodded to the soldiers escorting the Kirins.

"Captain Reisa heard about the capture. Direct orders: Project Grayscale and the barbarian general are to be locked up in the secure zone, but the other two are to be executed immediately. They're useless." He raised his pistol, aiming towards Rudolf first. "Last words, savage?"

Now was the time. Their escorts pressed their weapons back into the Kirins' hands, bursting into motion to begin the assault. Izayoi joined in not long after, cutting through her bonds before engaging in a battojutsu quick-draw, intent on disarming the pistol-wielding sergeant both figuratively and literally.

___

Out on the streets, the other half of the Kirins could see movement on the rooftops as an alarm blared out from within the prison, Valheimr gunners setting up and digging in to draw line of sight on the prison's exits. It seemed they were taking no chances with a possible breakout.

Of course, with all their focus on the prison and their high-profile prisoners, the riflemen weren't exactly keeping as much of a watchful eye as they should have been on their rear, secure in their assumption that the threat was within.

A cautious eye would also notice an airship lifting off from Kugane Castle, flying straight in the prison's direction. It seemed they were on a timetable at this point.